China Will Release Jet, 2 Crewmen To Taiwan -- Pilot Must Stay

HONG KONG — After three days of unprecedented direct negotiations, Chinese officials Monday agreed to return a China Air Lines Boeing 747 cargo jet and two crew members to Taiwan.

The plane's pilot, Wang Xi Jue, 57, will remain in China amid charges that he intentionally diverted the plane May 3 to defect to China.

The agreement follows talks by officials of Taiwan's China Air Lines and China's CAAC civil airlines.

It was the first time that representatives of the two countries had met formally since Taiwan's separation from the communist mainland 37 years ago.

Peking initially treated the arrival of the cargo jumbo jet in Canton as a propaganda coup in its drive to reunify Taiwan with China.

Wang, a decorated Taiwan pilot, even appeared before reporters in Peking to denounce what he called political and social degeneration in Taiwan.

But during negotiations Peking's representatives were unexpectedly flexible and were credited with granting a solution that would allow Taipei to save face.

Although Wang's wife in Taiwan insisted that he must have been coerced, Wang said he defected to see his 82-year-old father and three brothers in China. They were reunited Tuesday in front of reporters in Peking.